An Onchan-born man is to race in an ’ultramarathon’, crossing 268 miles of mountains, moors and hills.

Phil Marshall, who now lives with his wife Sarah in Banbury, Oxfordshire, is taking on the seven-day Montane Spine Racem, starting on Saturday.

He is raising awareness and money for the charity The Pulmonary Hypertension Association, dedicated to finding a cure for a terminal disease that his wife suffers from.

Phil said: ’This is undoubtably the toughest physical challenge I have ever attempted. I’m not lookingforward to a week without sleep, or trying to navigate in the mountains in the middle of the night when I’m exhausted. And I’m really hoping it doesn’t rain too much.

’But I love being out in the wilderness, and I will be loving the views and sense of adventure. I can’t wait to get on the start line and give the challenge a go now.’

The route follows The Pennine Way, one of the most demanding National Trails in Britain, and will see Phil face ice, snow, thick mud, storm force winds and driving rain in a gruelling, non-stop race across England.

Phil has been combining his full-time job with caring for Sarah and took up running as a way of dealing with the stress.

He has progressed through marathons and feels ready to take on what he described as ’undoubtedly the toughest physical challenge I have ever attempted’.

Pulmonary Hypertension (PH)causes high blood pressure in the blood vessels connecting the heart and lungs.

The disease has left Sarah facing everyday as a struggle, requiring a mobility scooter due to her extreme breathlessness and fatigue as well as making her ’dependent on supplementary oxygen and a cocktail of drugs to keep her alive’.

Needing a double lung transplant, Sarah has to remain near to her transplant hospital as she awaits a call which could come at any time.

Sarah said: ’My life was turned upside down when I developed PH. One day I was working as a primary school teacher, the next day I was barely able to move off my sofa.

’I was active and fit and loved climbing mountains and playing sport, but now I’m reliant on oxygen and a mobility scooter.’

She said fundraising is the couple’s way of helping in the search for a cure: ’We had to do something useful, to stop us feeling so helpless, and let us take back some control over the situation.’

To make a donation go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/phil-marshall15.